This invention is drawn to the field of brushing, scrubbing and general cleaning, and more particularly, to a novel rotary brush attachment tool for a hand-held vacuum cleaner.
Hand-held vacuum cleaners are well-known devices generally useful about the home, office and other locations to provide pick-up of dirt and/or liquid spillage. The devices typically include a powered unit (corded or cordless) to which a dust bowl is removably attached, and a filter and liquid separator for collecting dirt and or liquids within the dust bowl. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,685 issued May 23, 1989 to Bosyjl et al., incorporated herein by reference, is exemplary of the heretofore known wet/dry hand-held vacuum cleaners.
While hand-held vacuum cleaners prove acceptable to pick-up smaller solids and/or liquid spillage from floors and other smooth surfaces, their pick-up utility is limited by the character of the foreign matter to be cleaned and/or the nature of the underlying surface. The heavier or more clinging (e.g., fabric thread, pet hair) the foreign matter and the more porous or irregular the underlying surface the more difficult is the pick-up.
There is thus a need for an attachment tool for a hand-held vacuum cleaner that assists in pick-up of dirt, pet hair, liquid and the like whenever the character of the foreign matter and/or the nature of the underlying surface would otherwise result in ineffective or less than effective removal of foreign matter.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to disclose an attachment tool for a hand-held vacuum cleaner having a dust bowl terminating in a nozzle end that is removably attachable to the dust bowl and in fluid communication with the nozzle end and provides a mechanical force that acts to move foreign matter into the attachment tool from which the foreign matter is drawn into the nozzle end of the dust bowl of the hand-held vacuum cleaner to which it is removably attached.
In accordance therewith, the disclosed rotary brush attachment tool for a hand-held vacuum cleaner of the present invention includes a housing member elongated between first and second ends that provides a flow passageway therebetween, with the first end adapted to mount to the dust bowl of the hand-held vacuum cleaner and with the second end having a spillage pick-up window; a generally cylindrical brush having an axle rotatably mounted to the housing member in the flow passageway between said first and second ends thereof in such a way that said generally cylindrical brush partially extends out the open spillage pick-up window; and means for turning the generally cylindrical brush to mechanically move foreign matter into the passageway of the housing of the rotary brush attachment tool.
In the presently preferred employments, the turning means includes at least one roller member mounted for rotation with the axle of the generally cylindrical brush that responds to the normal back-and-forth cleaning motion of the hand-held vacuum cleaner to rotate said generally cylindrical brush.